CHARLESTON, SC NEWS - LIVE 5 WCSC Breaking News, Weather, SportsImpeachment proceedings begin against embattled Sanford

Impeachment proceedings begin against embattled Sanford

CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC/AP) - Legislators irked for months over Gov. Mark Sanford's summertime vanishing act and his tearful revelation that he was in Argentina for a rendezvous with his lover started debating a measure Tuesday that ultimately would remove him from office.

The seven lawmakers who comprise a panel of the House Judiciary Committee that will debate impeachment started the hearing focused solely on his five-day absence in June and failure to put someone in charge of the state while he was gone.

However, a motion was presented and passed to include the 37 charges outlined by the State Ethics Commission in their hearing. All of the charges centered around travel expenses and campaign funding.

Sanford's lawyers have claimed the charges involve minor and technical aspects of the law.

[Read the charges released by the Ethics Commission (pdf).]

In a release after the hearing, Sanford's legal team called the proceedings "extraordinary and extremely rare" and called on the committee to weigh the governor's actions against the precedent of impeachment in the US. "Only eight governors have been impeached and removed from office in the history of the United States, and only two in the last 80 years * both of whom were indicted on felony charges. The Ad Hoc Committee must decide whether there is clear and convincing evidence that the Governor committed a serious crime or serious misconduct in office that has corrupted the system of government in South Carolina. This standard is intentionally high," said Sanford's attorney Ross Garber in the release.

Garber said the governor's absence does not meet the precedent and that the powers of the state executive were automatically transferred to the Lt. Governor in Sanford's absence.

The four Republicans who co-sponsored the measure contend he was derelict in his duty and wrong to mislead staffers into thinking he was hiking the Appalachian Trail.

A legal expert with knowledge of the Ethics Commission proceedings said the charges can be broken down into two categories, campaign funding and travel expenses. The maximum penalty for each of the travel expenses is a $5,000 or one year in prison. The maximum penalty for the campaign finance violations is to pay back 500 percent of the amount of the contributions in question or serve one year in prison.

That means the governor could face 37 years in prison or fines up to nearly $150,000, but that's only if he is handed the maximum sentence on all counts.

The Ethics Commission was investigating at least three specific issues involving the Governor and the final report was expected to be made public sometime Monday. The issues involve allegations that Sanford misused state airplanes, that he did not disclose dozens of flights given to him and whether Sanford took expensive commercial flights when he was required to buy the least expensive seats.

The release of Monday's report is coming at the same time State Lawmakers are considering to move forward with the impeachment process this week. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Harrison says he'll gather a seven member panel tomorrow to talk about whether to begin the impeachment process. The panel would be made up of four Republicans and three Democrats.

Harrison says they will discuss whether Governor Sanford was neglectful when he left the state for five days last June without telling his staff where he was going.

In order for Sanford to be impeached, the House would have to vote. If two-thirds of the representatives agree, Sanford would be impeached and put on probation. He would also be suspended from his duties.

Lieutenant Governor Andre Bauer would fill in while the State Senate investigates the matter. The Senate would make the final vote on whether the impeachment is carried out.

People in the Lowcountry had varying views on whether Sanford should be impeached.

"Yes, I do think he should be impeached," Justin Lewis said. "He did something wrong and he was in office at the time so he should deal with the consequences and be impeached."

I think anybody that's gonna represent my state needs to be able to handle themselves in a mature manner, and he didn't at all," Aubrey Cookus said.

Others disagreed.

"I think he has very little time left in office anyway, and I don't think the person who will take his place will do as good a job, or is qualified even to be governor," Dr. Roland Skinner said. "You know, some sort of expression of official disapproval would be appropriate, but nothing probably more than that."

"I think it's a waste of taxpayer funding," Krauss said. "A waste of time, a waste of money. And time that can be better served looking for creation of new jobs, strengthening the economy, helping South Carolina develop something in a positive light, and not just another debacle for the State of South Carolina."

Sanford has been under scrutiny and pressure to step down since admitting to an extramarital affair with the woman he has called his "soul mate." He has never revealed the identity of a so-called "back channel" senior administration official the governor contends could have reached him in an emergency. Sanford's state e-mail and phone records show he was not in touch with his office while abroad.

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